


if you just hold me (i might be okay)

by riverdalenerdlol



Series: Riverdalenerdlol's canon fangirling [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Betty Cooper Needs a Hug, Broken Betty, Canon Compliant, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I just found this in my notes from when I went crazy and wrote out a post-3x22 fic, Jug tries to help, Mentions of Character Death, Mentions of Injuries, Mentions of Violence, PG shower sharing, Post 3x22, Snuggling, basically anything that happened in 3x22 or before is up for mentions, fluff and almost depressing but comforting, i think it's okay, just a drabble I've been wanting to do, mentions of character disappearance, or buggles as I like to call them, she needs like 50 hugs, this entire thing is just fluff and characters hurting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:21:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22156204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riverdalenerdlol/pseuds/riverdalenerdlol
Summary: A SUPER LATE POST-3x22 FIC FOR YAJughead felt the air leave Betty’s lungs when she sighed - and he wasn’t even touching her. Her back now slumped, Jughead saw the hope leave her face. He watched her begin to turn but he was too quick, pulling her into his chest before her knees could give out. He held her there tightly as she began to let it all sink in.Her mom and sister had disappeared.Her dad was dead.She’d almost died.They all almost died.Betty couldn’t help but to let the sobs slip out of her, the hot tears running down her face. Jughead kept her steady, trying to calm her and keep her upright.“No,” she cried softly, her body shaking. “No,” she whimpered, trying to rationalize it all. Jughead was simply speechless. He didn’t know what to say - and for the first time ever he didn’t know what good words would do.OR: Betty breaks down after hearing of her mother and sister's disappearance - Jughead is there to catch her when she falls down7th BFFAs - NOMINEE ONESHOT ANGST
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: Riverdalenerdlol's canon fangirling [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1519778
Comments: 6
Kudos: 90
Collections: 7th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees





	if you just hold me (i might be okay)

**Author's Note:**

> Legit just found this drabble in my notes app on my computer. 
> 
> Figured it'd be something worth posting. 
> 
> Knock yourselves out, buggies. 
> 
> There's plenty of Buggles (and Bughead comforting each other) down here.

Jughead felt the air leave Betty’s lungs when she sighed - and he wasn’t even _touching_ her. Her back now slumped, Jughead saw the hope leave her face. He watched her begin to turn but he was too quick, pulling her into his chest before her knees could give out. He held her there tightly as she began to let it all sink in.

Her mom and sister had disappeared.

Her dad was dead.

She’d almost died.

They all almost died.

Betty couldn’t help but to let the sobs slip out of her, the hot tears running down her face. Jughead kept her steady, trying to calm her and keep her upright.

“No,” she cried softly, her body shaking. “No,” she whimpered, trying to rationalize it all. Jughead was simply speechless. He didn’t know what to say - and for the first time ever he didn’t know what good words would do.

“Betty—“

“No,” she said a little louder, shaking her head. “It’s— It’s not true!”

“Betty.”

“NO.” Jughead looked over at Veronica and Archie, who were also lost for words - especially at Betty’s behavior. “They’re gone!” Betty exclaimed, her voice cracking and breaking.

“We’re gonna be okay,” Jughead tried consoling. Betty’s body trembled, her legs shaky as she started to break down.

“No!” She whimpered, clutching his jacket firmly. “Not this time!” She sobbed. “T-They’re gone,” Betty muttered brokenly, inhaling and exhaling shakily.

Jughead was so stunned by his girlfriend’s reaction that when she stepped back and slipped out of his arms, he barely registered it. He just watched as her angry, shattered, saddened soul stepped back, tears coating her face, and pointed a finger at Kevin, who was sitting in a ball on the floor.

“And _you!”_ She dug, pointing a finger at Kevin angrily. “YOU LET THEM GO!” She screamed.

“I’m—“

“NO!” Betty screeched. “DON’T YOU DARE TRY AND JUSTIFY YOURSELF TO ME! YOU LET THEM GO!”

“Betty—“ Jughead tried, reaching out for her. Betty simply pushed him away.

“HOW COULD YOU, KEVIN?!” Waves of tears stormed Betty’s face. Her jaw tremored, her entire body shaking along with it.

“I’m sorry,” Kevin whimpered, retreating into himself. “I’m so sorry.”

“THAT WAS MY FAMILY! MY MOM, MY SISTER! THEY’RE BOTH GONE!”

“It’s not fair to blame Kevin, Betty—“ Jughead reasoned, trying to pull Betty back to him. She slipped through his hands and stepped towards Kevin instead.

“Y-YOU ENCOURAGED ALL OF THIS!” Betty slandered. “AND NOW MY ENTIRE FAMILY IS GONE! WHERE DID THEY GO, KEVIN?!”

“I-I don’t—“

“WHERE?!”

“Betty, he doesn’t know—“

“WHERE DID THEY GO?!” Betty screamed, running towards Kevin. Jughead snatched her off the ground before she could grab Kevin and shake the boy down. “NO!” She wailed desperately. “NO!”

“Stop, Betty,” Jughead said in her ear, holding her entire body across his arms and pulling them away from Kevin. “It’s over. There’s nothing we can do.”

“NO!” She screamed, hiccoughing. She cried harder, louder. High-pitched squeals of pain and horror left her body, finally crumbling to pieces in Jughead’s arms. He looked up at Archie and Veronica, both harrowed at the sight. Archie held Veronica’s back to his chest and Jughead could see the redhead’s white knuckles because he was gripping his girlfriend so tight. Tears rolled down Veronica’s cheeks, troubled at seeing her best friend so cracked and shattered. Cheryl and Toni held each other close on Jughead’s alternate side, knowing they could have been lost with the Farm too.

“Archie,” Jughead said over Betty’s desperate, heart-wrenching cries. “Call my dad.”

**—**

After the deputies and the fire department were gone, Kevin was allowed to go home with his dad, a blanket bundled around him as he muttered his apologies under his breath. Veronica, Archie, Betty, and Jughead had all been hooked up to separate IVs in front of the former Sisters of Quiet Mercy building - to flush out the leftover poison for Betty and Veronica, and just in case for Jughead and Archie. They had each been borderline swaddled in shock blankets, Betty even reverting into the fetal position as Jughead sat next to her. Betty’s hair had been let down from the elegant bun it was in and Jughead spent his time holding Betty’s blood-stained, shaking hands. She stared at them encapsulated in Jughead’s, the memories of the night replaying over and over in her head.

Jughead raised their joined hands, pulling them towards him, and kissed her fingers softly as he stroked her knuckles. Tears threatened to spill from Betty’s eyes again, but Jughead cupped her cheek in his hand. She sniffled, one tear rolling from each eye silently as she looked at him.

“I love you.” Her voice cracked, but she didn’t care. “Don’t leave me.”

The rest of the air Jughead had in his lungs escaped from his body in one fell swoop. Betty had lost all of her family in one night - her dad was dead, her mom and sister missing. He was all that she had left, _literally._ And now she was afraid that he would leave too, that he would vanish without a trace.

“I’m not going anywhere, Cooper,” he whispered, shuffling so he was sitting hip to hip with her. “I couldn’t leave even if I tried.” He draped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in and laying a kiss to Betty’s blonde hair. She burst into sobs again, burying her face in his chest. “Oh, Betty,” he sighed. “I’m sorry.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and Jughead pulled Betty’s legs so that she was sitting in his lap.

“Shh…” he soothed her cries. “It’s okay, I’ve got you. You’re safe.” Jughead looked over and saw as Archie and Veronica watched in horror - they’d never seen Betty so broken. They didn’t know how to react. Fred Andrews approached them, trying to get them up so he could take them home, but Archie and Veronica were frozen. Jughead nodded to Archie, nonverbally saying _I’ll take care of her. Betty will be okay, I promise._ Archie nodded back, taking Veronica by the arm and leading her to his dad’s truck as Jughead rocked Betty in his arms.

With Archie and Veronica gone, and Cheryl, Toni, and Kevin having left a while ago, Jughead and Betty were the only ones left in front of the building that Betty’s college fund had purchased only a few months ago, the blonde crumpled in a ball, defeated. Jughead realized, when he looked down, that Betty had fallen asleep in his arms, her soft breaths even and slow against the skin of his neck and her body slack in his hold. Only a second later, Jughead felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see his dad standing above him.

“You ready to get her home?” He asked quietly. “The paramedics said you were good to go twenty minutes ago, but I was waiting for Betty to eventually fall asleep or something.”

_Her home was never with her family,_ Jughead thought. _For years now, it’s always been with me._ He thought of her room, unchanged from when Alice Cooper owned the house. He remembered all of the nights they’d spent together - intimate or not - and could only think: _She’s_ my _family. She’s not alone._

“Yeah,” Jughead whispered. “I guess we ought to.”

Betty only stirred slightly when the IV was removed, but cuddled back into Jughead’s chest and drifted to sleep again. When she and Jughead were cleared to leave, FP opened the backseat of his cruiser for his son. Jughead slid inside, Betty still curled up in his arms. FP drove back to Elm Street gently, knowing the two exhausted teenagers behind him wouldn’t want to be disturbed. He opened the car door for them once more when they arrived back at the house, Betty still unconscious.

Jughead carried Betty past his father, up the stairs, and past Jellybean. She was confused as to why they looked like they’d come from some horror prom gone wrong, but Jughead brushed it off, letting himself inside Betty’s old bedroom. He laid her down gently on the bed before going back to close and lock the door behind them. When he turned around, he saw the beautiful mess of dirt and silk and blonde hair asleep on the bed, feeling all of her pain and suffering hit him in the chest.

_She has no one to take care of her anymore,_ he thought. _No one but me._ Jughead walked over to where she was on the bed, kneeling beside her on the floor. He cupped her cheek in one hand, using his thumb to stroke her cheekbone gently. She stirred slowly, blinking her eyes open slowly a few times.

“Juggie,” she whispered, smiling weakly.

“You’re home now,” he promised. She held his wrist with her hand. “Let me help you get cleaned up, baby…” Betty nodded slowly, allowing Jughead to help her stand up. He turned her around, finding the zipper on the pale pink gown and pulling it down. “I never got to say it, but you looked so beautiful in this dress last night, Betty,” he whispered, kissing the juncture of her shoulder and neck softly as he pushed the dress off of her shoulders and down to the floor.

“You looked handsome in your suit,” she replied softly, turning back around to face him. Betty kissed his cheek before pushing his blazer off his shoulders so that it fell to a heap on the floor. She loosened his tie and pulled it off, followed by the top button of his dark dress shirt. She gasped and pulled away suddenly, spooking him. 

“Betty?” Jughead asked, gripping her shoulders before she could run away. “What?”

“Y-You,” she stuttered, her green eyes becoming glassy before him. “Your neck.”

“What about it?”

“The bruises… from where Chic…” she trailed off.

_From where he choked me,_ Jughead remembered.

“I’m okay, Betty.”

“But you’re not,” she whimpered, reaching out to trace the small purple and blue marks with her delicate fingers. “You could’ve died.”

“I could say the same of you,” he said. “But we’re alive, Betty. I’m right here with you… Okay?”

“… Okay,” she replied quietly, nodding. “Okay.” Jughead pulled her shoulders in so he could plant a kiss to her forehead. Betty wrapped her arms around him gently, not wanting to hurt him further. They stood like that for a few minutes until Jughead pulled her off of him. She finished unbuttoning his shirt, trying not to react when she saw more bruises on his chest.

They stepped in the shower together after they’d stripped down past their underwear. Jughead and Betty washed each other tenderly, making sure to scrub all of the dirt, blood, sweat, and tears off of themselves. Jughead didn’t protest when she wanted to use his body wash instead of hers, he just said, “Letting me know what’s mine, Cooper?”

“It’s all yours already,” she replied. “Might as well mark it.”

Jughead took his time washing her body, making sure to massage out any knots in her back and releasing any built up tension in her muscles. His fingers brushed lightly by the bruises, cuts, and scrapes littered on her skin, making sure to wash the dirt away, but not to cause her any pain.

Even when the water started turning cold and they were done washing each other, they just stood under the spray of water, Jughead hugging Betty from behind. Neither wanted to get out and face reality, the truth that was their lives. They preferred standing under the chilling water, skin to skin, arms around each other.

It wasn’t until Betty started shivering ten minutes later that they got out. Jughead wrapped her in a towel and her bathrobe to make sure she was warm enough.

Not long after, they’d helped each other get dressed into comfy pajamas and crawled into Betty’s bed, Jughead holding her securely to his chest as they laid down together. He spooned her gently, only holding her tight enough so that he could keep her close to him. Jughead tried and failed to sleep, so he just watched Betty sleep in his arms.

But try as she might, Betty couldn’t fake sleep on Jughead’s watch.

He knew she was awake. He knew she couldn’t sleep.

“Betty…” he whispered after twenty minutes. “I know you’re not sleeping.”

“What gave it away?” She sighed tiredly. Betty rolled over in his arms to look at him.

“Nothing,” he replied, pushing a blonde curl behind her ear. “I just knew you weren’t asleep.”

“Hmph, your goddamn boyfriend’s intuition,” she grumbled. “Can’t get away with anything anymore.” Jughead smirked, tracing her shoulder with his finger.

“No, I guess you can’t.” Betty’s eyes tore away from his suddenly and she shuffled in closer to him, one of her legs sandwiched between his. “What’s wrong?” He asked curiously. “I mean, besides everything…”

“But it is everything,” she replied quietly, still avoiding his gaze. “It’s everything.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Not really,” Betty said. “You were there, you saw what happened… My life fell apart.”

“No it didn’t.”

“Yes, it did,” she insisted, her voice shaky. “I don’t have a family anymore.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes—“

“No, it’s not, Betty,” Jughead said firmly, causing Betty to look into his eyes as he pinned her shoulders to the mattress and hovered over her. “It’s not true.”

“But—“

“No,” he insisted, interrupting her. “You still have me, my dad, Jellybean, Veronica, Archie…”

“They’re not—“

“We’re your real family,” Jughead told her. “We don’t ditch you for cults, turn our backs on you, sell your childhood home and leave you homeless, we’re not serial killers that try to murder you the night you become prom queen… Can’t you see it, Betty? Isn’t it clear now?” Betty’s eyes were glassy, tears about to spill over. “You’re _my_ family.”

“Jug,” she whispered.

“We may not be related to you by blood - and I promise, I’ll help you find your mom and sister - but you’re an honorary Jones… and you have been ever since before I started loving you…” Betty blinked, and a tear rolled from the corner of her eye. “You’re _my_ family, and I love you… I’ll never give you up or take advantage of you like your parents did.”

Two more tears ran from the corners of Betty’s eyes. She sobbed once before surging up to wrap her arms around his neck, planting her lips on his. Jughead laced his arms around her middle, holding her close as they kissed softly and passionately. Eventually, Betty’s sobs broke through, making her pull away to continue hugging him. She cried into his shoulder, gripping him tightly, never wanting to let go.

“I love you too, Juggie,” she sobbed quietly. “I love you so much.”

_I know you do,_ he wanted to reply… but he didn’t. He laid there with her, soothing her cries and wiping her tears away until she stopped. Sobs turned to sniffling, which turned back into cuddling.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“No, don’t be,” Jughead replied stroking her cheek. “Don’t apologize for your emotions, Betts.” She nodded. “You’re human, you have feelings… And yours are beautiful, no matter what you think.”

“You’re biased,” Betty countered quietly.

“You’re not wrong, but I will not retract my statement,” Jughead chided, making Betty smile. She rolled them over, one of her arms stretching across his chest as her head nestled in his shoulder. Betty snuggled into Jughead’s side and he let her, one arm around her shoulders, his alternate hand holding her arm. “We’re gonna be okay,” he whispered, tears threatening to spill.

Together they just cried.

They cried out all of their pain until they fell asleep.

When they woke up they cried together some more, their bodies and souls broken and battered.

And after a while - though the trauma lingered in the back of their minds - they _were_ okay.

_**fin.** _


End file.
